NyAsa Dasakam of Swami Desikan --Part 2 : Second SlOkam

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Dear Members of the SaraNAgathi and Bhakthi Groups :

 

In the second slokam of NyAsa Dasakam ,

Swami Desikan addresses Sri VaradarAjan

of Kancheepuram as" Sriman " as in Dvayam

and salutes PerundEvi ThAyAr as well this way

and performs his SaraNAgathi . He states

unambigouously , " Sriman ! aathma rakshA bharam

tvayi nyasyAmi " . Swami Desikan reminds

the Lord that he has laid the total responsibility of

his protection at the feet of the Sarva Loka SaraNyan .

The full slOkam is as follows :

 

nyasyAmyakinchana : Sriman aanukUlOnyavarjitha: I

visvAsa prArthanA pUrvam aathmarakshAbharam tvayi II

 

( Anvaya kramam ) : Sriman ! anukUla: anya varjitha:

akinchana: visvAsa prArthanA pUrvam aathma rakshA

bharam tvayi nyasyAmi .

 

Swami Desikan brilliantly weaves in the five angAs of

Bhara SamarpaNam in this slOkam first and then

performs SaraNAgathi at the holy feet of PEraruLALan .

This is the Saastraic way to perform SaraNAgathi with

its five angAs . These five angAs are :

 

(1) aanukUlya Sankalpam (2) PrAthikUlya varjanam

(3) KaarpaNyam (4) MahA VisvAsam and

(5) gOpthruva VaraNam .

 

1)AanukUlya sankalpam is covered by the word " anukUla: "

in this slOkam .This refers to his vow to perform always

deeds that please the Lord .

 

2)PrAthkUlya Varjanam is covered by the word " Anya Varjitha: "

in the verse . PrAthikUlya varjanam relates to the vow of

one performing Prapatthi that he will not engage in acts that

cause displeasure to the Lord .

 

3)KaarpaNyam is connected to the word " akinchana: " in

this verse. KaarpaNyam is a state of meekness and

humility arising from the clear recognition that one has no

skills or power to practise any upAyams to reach the Lord

such as Bhakthi yOgam et al . This state is invoked by

ALavandhAr in his famous sthothra rathna slOkam :

 

" na dharmanishtOsmi nachAthmavEdhi na bhakthimAn

tvadh SaraNAravindhO !

akinchanO ananyagathissaraNya tvadh paadha mUlam

saraNam prapadhyE " .

 

4)MahA VisvAsam is hinted by the words " VisvAsa "

in this slOkam . Maha visvAsam is the total and

unshakable faith in the thought that the Lord will protect

the saraNAgathan without fail .

 

5)gOpthruva VaraNam is the request of the rakshaNam

of one with a humble prayer . The words , " prArthanA

pUrvam " connect to the fifth limb (angA ) of SaraNAgathi

in this slOkam .

 

After observing SaraNAgathi with the above five angAs ,

Swami performs saraNAgathi with the statement ,

" Aathma rakshA bharam tvayi nyasyAmi " . Thus

the pancha anga bharanyAsam is practised by

Swami Desikan througth this verse .

 

Swami addresses thus the kAruNya Raasi ( the embodiment

of mercy and compassion ) presiding over VaaraNa sailam

( Hasthi Giri ) and performs his SaraNAgathi . Lord VaradarAjan

was very dear to our AchAryan . He has saluted His SvarUpam

elsewhere as " nithyam param sarvagatham susUkshmam

nishpandhanandhathu mayam bhavatha: SvarUpam " .

 

With the above moving salutation , Swami Desikan recognizes

the Bhagavath SvarUpam of Lord VaradarAjan as eternal ( nithyam ) ,

superior to all tattvams (param ) , omnipresent (sarvagatham )

and capable of penetrating everywhere ( susUkshmam )

and of the form of unaltered bliss ( nishpandhanandhuathu mayam ) .

 

Before this Lord of anantha kalyANa guNams , Swami

Desikan feels acutely his aakinchanyam and ananyagathithvam

referred to by AlavandhAr earlier . The above two are

the visEsha adhikArams of Prapatthi . After that

acknowlwdgement of his deficiency , Swami performs

his SaraNAgathi .

 

Aakinchanyathvanm refers to the lack of skills to follow

the upAyams such as Bhakthi yOgam ; ananyagathithvam

relates to the seeking of Moksham alone as the fruit of

one's efforts and seeking Sriman NaarAyaNA alone as

the one capable of granting that boon of Moksham .

 

The first two paasurams of adaikkala patthu of Swami Desikan ,

which are echoes in Tamil of the ten slOkams of NyAsa dasakam

in Sanskrit deal with akinchanathvam and ananyagathithvam

respectively .

 

Swami Desikan's whole life was devoted to advancing

the key doctrine of Prapatthi housed in Bhagavadh

RaamAnujA's SaraNAgathi Gadhyam and AlavandhAr's

sthOthra rathnam . In the above cited 22nd slokam

of SthOthra rathnam , AlavandhAr ( YaamunAcchaaryA )

describes himself as one bereft of dharma nishtai ,

aathma j~nAnam and Bhakthi at the Lord's lotus feet .

He explains the reason for his saraNAgathi at the Lord's

sacred feet as a direct consequence of these deficiencies .

 

AlavandhAr in turn took his cues from NammAzhwAr

( thruvaimozhi VaanamAmalai paasuram 5.7.1)and

Thondardippodi's 25th Thrirumaalai paasuram

( nORRa nOnbilEn nuNNaRivilEn of NammAzhwar and

ninlaNum batthanallEn of Thpondaradipodi AzhwAr ) ..

 

NammAzhwAr addresses ThOthAdhrinaathan of

VaanamAmalai in his paasuram and cries out :

" O Lord ! I have not gained any distinction through pracise

of karmaa or J~nAnA yOgA , which are precursors to

the development of Bhakthi in one . I do indeed have

Bhakthi for You , but it is far from the kind that results from

the practise of Bhakthi yOgA . My bhakthi for You is of a restless

and intensely passionate kind . This is not a kind of

Bhakthi resulting from Bhakthi yOgA that leads to Moksham .

That is why I have this dvarai or urgency . Oh my Lord

seated on your mighty serpent aasanam at Srivaramangala

Nagar , rich with lotuses growing in fertile paddy fields ,

take me into your fold as one who needs protection .

 

NammAzhwAr states here that of all the four yOgAs leading to

Moksham , he is not qualified or he is unable to succeed in

the practise of Karma , J~nana or Bhakthi yOgams . He is left

with only Prapatthi yOgam to reach his goal of Moksham . He

has no other succor . Therefore he confesses , " Puhal onru

illA adiyEn unnadikkeezh amarnthu puhundhEnE " .

 

The basis for the hoary tradition of SaraNAgathi as the easy -to-

practise and as a quick yielder of the fruit of Moksham is

in the Lakshmi Tantram belonging to the PaancharAthrA texts.

NammAzhwAr , Naathamuni, AalavandhAr , RaamAnujA and

Swami Desikan followed this tradition . Lakshmi Tanthram

says in this context :

 

" upAyaccha chathurthasthE prOktha: seegra paltara: pUrvE

traya upAyAsthE bhavEyu ramanOharA : , chathurthamAccharyan

yEvam upAyam saraNAsrayam " .

 

Lakshmi enlists the three yOgams --karma , J~nana and Bhakthi

yOgams --first and discards them in favor of Prapatthi yOgam

as seegra pala pradham ( quick to yield results ) . GeethAchAryan

followed the same line of thought and described the three yOgams

first and then in the very last chapter revealed prapatthi at his lotus

feet as the fourth and most effective upAyam for one and all .

The five limbs of prapatthi and the two visEsha adhikArams

( Aakinchanyam and ananyagathithvam ) were elaborated upon

by our pUrvAchAryAs in general and Swami Desikan in particular .

 

This is the greatness of the second slOkam of NyAsa dasakam

since it focuses on the five angAs and the two adhikArams of

SaraNAgathi .

 

Swami Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan